Tag: HADR

My name is Mohammad Darab. I’m a SQL Server Consultant, speaker and blogger with over 18 years of IT professional experience, 10+ years of that working with SQL Server. Some areas of focus: database engine, high availability / disaster recovery, and security. I’m an MCITP and MCP 2016 (working towards my MCSE), as well as Security+ certified.

I am fairly new to speaking and absolutely enjoy it. That is why I reached out to become a mentor to anyone thinking about it! Feel free to reach out if you want to talk about how I overcame my fear of public speaking.

What would someone fresh out of university with 17 (not one, not seven, but 17) failed courses and no chance of employment do? Hire himself.

When you have to sell yourself to get contract work, you learn a thing or two about delivering presentations. You have to learn how to be a great storyteller and engage your audience. But that’s not easy when you’re an introvert.

Speaking in front of a crowd is also not easy for an introvert. But the only way to be really good at public speaking is to get yourself out there and – speak.

I have been speaking at conferences and events since 2002. I’m a Microsoft MVP award recipient since 2006 and a Microsoft Certified Master in SQL Server. I specialize in high availability and disaster recovery solutions. I also spend time automating boring, repetitive tasks using PowerShell.

When I’m not working with databases, I’m on my other keyboard – a music workstation – playing jazz piano or creating EDM tracks. To overcome my fear of public speaking, I have learned the art of telling engaging stories.

22 years ago I got myfirst job in IT right out of high school as a computer operator and started attending college to become a computer programmer. I hated my database class mainly because I finished the work in 10 minutes and had to sit there bored for the 50 minutes. My instructor didn’t understand I was already using these concepts at work.

I started barely blogging in 2012, something that wasn’t really encouraged by my current job. Four years ago I took an awesome job that believed that be involved in the community was a good thing.

Then in 2015, I signed up for my first SQL Saturday. The presentation had a total of five attendees (one being a coworker). I managed to cover 30 slides of HADR material in 30 minutes but wait the presentation was supposed to last an hour. Oops.

Now I’ve done so many presentations it’s hard to keep count. Presented at 18 SQL Saturdays last year, PASS Summit, and a few online presentations. I’m a complete SQL Saturday addict and enjoy going to each and every one of them and don’t mind if there are only five people, it was probably for the best on that first presentation.